Twinkle Twinkle
by Pey119
Summary: The countdown to the worst day of Percy's life started in October, right before Halloween. The worst day of his life was full of blood, full of sick eyes and an empty soul. (Human AU, complete)
1. Chapter 1

_Twinkle twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are._ Percy stared up at the sky from the safety of his new bedroom's window, felt a rush of excitement at the large house and its many rooms. _Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky._ He stared out at the lights of the city, at the lights of the city that never slept. _Twinkle twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are._ The air blasted against his face as he felt that sick sense of relief, that through a death he came to be where he was.

The countdown to the worst day in Percy's life started on October 21. Ever since his father had died, he and his mother had been living on a prayer when it came to finances. A year after his father's death, Percy's uncle also died, leaving behind everything he had owned to his two children. They needed someone, Percy and Sally needed them. It was only fitting that they moved to this large home the two children lived in.

And it was certainly fitting. Percy and Nico had been friends since birth, despite the common fights they had. Hazel kept close to Sally and never left her side, insisting on helping her with every household chore. It was good, life was good, everything was okay.

Until the countdown started, until Percy padded through the hallway early that morning to hear someone throwing up behind the closed bathroom door.

"Hey, are you okay?" Percy knocked on the door, soft enough to not wake anyone else. "Can I come in?" The wooden door opened an inch from his touch and when he didn't get an answer, swung open from his push to reveal Nico sitting in front of the open toilet, his hair in his face and his arms wrapped around his stomach.

"Nico!" Percy's eyes widened when he saw the state his cousin was in, having expected it to have been Hazel or even his mother. "Are...are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a stomach bug." Nico looked up at Percy with a grim yet determined expression. "It's just a stomach bug. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure...?" Percy took another step into the room. "At least let me help you back into bed. It isn't going to go away if you don't get rest."

Nico seemed to wipe his mouth in slow motion before he moved a hand to the toilet seat, using it to haul himself to his feet. A slight stumble, a mutter and curse, a slight gasp of pain before he was steady enough to look at Percy again. "I'm fine. I have to get ready for school."

"Nico, you should stay home..." Percy flushed the toilet before wetting a small rag. "Put this on your head and lay down. You can stay home for a day."

"And get behind on my work? No, thank you." Nico took the rag and laid it over the top of his head as he exited the bathroom. "It's just a stomach bug, Percy. You worry too much."

Percy watched him walk out of the bathroom before spraying air freshener around the toilet, making sure nobody would notice the morning's slight difficulty. He knew Nico, he knew him well, and nothing was going to stop the younger boy from hitting the goal his mother had always wanted for him. Since her death when he was ten, Nico spent his life working to become valedictorian of his class. And Percy knew a simple stomach bug wasn't going to stop him, so he cleaned up and went on his way to school.

Besides, Nico knew his limits.

...Right?

The next morning Percy experienced the same scene. Nico hanging over the toilet, holding his stomach, throwing up as if his very stomach wanted to come out of him. It didn't look normal, not in the least, and there was a little too much blood mixed with his vomit. But Percy took him to school anyways. They hid it from his mom, hid it from Hazel, hid it well. It was something they were a little too good at.

It was easy to hide it at school. Nico always kept away from people, looked down at the idea of friends. What would they do but distract him from his mother's dream? So he kept to himself, kept in the back, ran to the bathroom when he needed to. It was easy.

But the pains in his stomach kept getting worse, and the lights he saw didn't seem normal.

"Nico, you need to eat." Percy moved Nico's lunch closer to his resting head. "Sit up and eat already. It's the only way you're going to get better."

"You can't rush getting over a stomach bug," Nico grumbled into the table. "Leave me alone, I don't feel good. If I have time to eat I have time to study."

Percy shook his head, ate his own food in silence. Maybe he should have sat with his friends, after all. They watched him from their table, beckoned him back to their cozy little corner, beckoned him away from Nico's slumped form.

"Nico, are you sure you're okay?" Percy asked. "If you promise you are I'm gonna go visit Annabeth for a second."

"I'm fine, Percy." Nico chuckled softly. "Go to your girlfriend. I don't even have to look at you to know you're basically drooling over her."

Percy rolled his eyes but relaxed at the normal tone of Nico's voice. It was just a stomach bug, it wasn't like he was dying. With that thought in mind, Percy took his lunch and went to sit between Annabeth and Jason, leaving Nico alone to scowl at the table. Scowl in pain, scowl at the many tests he had that day.

But it was just a stomach bug, and the lights had gotten dimmer.


	2. Chapter 2

"Twinkle twinkle, little star," the choir girls sang to warm up their voices as Percy and Nico fought their way through the crowded gym. A rehearsal in front of the whole school, a marking of the next point of the countdown.

"Percy!" Annabeth waved her arms from where she sat to get his attention. "I saved you a seat!"

"Come on, Nico." Percy led him into the bleachers and sat beside his girlfriend, pulling Nico into the seat below him. "How long is this supposed to last?"

"Too long," Leo spoke up from beside Nico, his hands fidgeting with metal scraps he had taken from the art room. "Anyone have any gum?"

Nico handed the pack over from his jacket pocket, having been carrying it for weeks now. Chewing helped the hunger pains without sparking the nausea, giving gum a new place on his list of priorities.

Leo seemed hesitant to take it but eventually did. "Thanks, you're a lifesaver. I have a horrible taste in my mouth from that paint that _someone_ decided to throw at me."

"It wasn't my fault your mouth was open!" Piper protested. "You shouldn't have been making jokes in the middle of class."

"You weren't even supposed to be in that class!" Leo waved his hands in the air. "You just wanted to get out of study hall."

"Can we shut up?" Nico asked, causing both teenagers to shut down. "Thank you."

It was halfway through the performance when the pains came again, this time worse than before. Bitter, scratching, aching pains that filled his stomach and clawed their way into his ribs. He doubled over as his vision sparked, as the lights seemed to twinkle in ways unheard of.

He could hear his name being called, feel himself move from his previous position. But the lights kept him occupied as they continued to change, from one form to another. Stars, blinking fast. A falling star. The death of a star. Darkness.

* * *

"Nico, hey Nico..." Percy looked down at the pale boy as his dark eyes opened, squinting at the bright lights of the hospital. "How do you feel?"

"Percy...?" Nico croaked. "Where am I? What happened?"

"You passed out," Percy explained. His green eyes didn't hold any light and his smile was gone. "Nico, I don't think this is just a stomach bug."

"Yeah, well, nobody can always be right." Nico sat up, creating a wave of pain that started in his stomach. "Hell, it hurts."

"Yeah, you puked a lot." Percy sighed. "They said it's not normal to throw up blood like you were. They're going to do tests."

"Tests? For a stomach bug?" Nico struggled to his feet, the IVs in his arms pulling at their machine. "This is stupid, Percy. Get me my clothes."

"Nico, sit down. You're going to hurt yourself." Percy grabbed Nico's shoulders. "You aren't thinking right. Just sit down, okay? Just sit down for a second."

"Percy, I want to go home." Nico sat down with a defeated sigh. "I hate hospitals."

"I know." Percy sat next to him. "Once you're stable and we schedule a test, you can go home. So relax. We'll be home by tonight."

"Okay, fine." Nico laid back on the bed with his arms crossed. "I still don't see why they're freaking out about a stomach bug, though."

Percy shook his head but didn't reply, knowing by now how stubborn Nico could be. It would "just be a stomach bug" to him until facts said otherwise, and even then Nico would have a hard time believing it. He always did.

They were able to head home around dinnertime, with a note to keep Nico home from school the next day even though it would never be used. As soon as they entered the front door, Sally and Hazel ran to meet them.

"Are you okay?!" Hazel grabbed her brother by the shoulders and shook him. "What were you thinking?! You were sick and you didn't tell anybody?!"

"Hazel, don't work him up." Sally put a hand on the girl's shoulder but looked just as worried. "Nico, what if something had been seriously wrong?"

"They're doing tests Saturday," Percy spoke up. "But they thought he was fine enough to send home."

"That's because it's just a stomach bug," Nico grumbled. "Now, I need to go do the work I missed today. I'll be in my room." He started for the staircase but Hazel held him back, causing his scowl to deepen. "What?"

"You should eat dinner." Hazel kept her grip strong on his arm. "Please? At least let me bring it up to you so you can work and eat?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Nico kissed her forehead before pulling free. "I'll be in my room." And with that, he was gone, up the stairs and away from the worried faces of his family. He hated seeing them like that, especially when there was no reason to be worried in the first place. They tended to overreact after so many people they knew died, but Nico wouldn't let it get to him. Flus didn't kill people, stomach bugs didn't kill people. He'd be fine.


	3. Chapter 3

Twinkling lights, shining brightly like stars high above Nico as he got the test done. Nothing had looked normal all morning nor had he felt normal, but the flu took a lot out of people, right? It was just the flu, nothing more.

Saturday went by quickly. Groggy from the tests, Nico was taken home by Percy. He laid on the couch for the rest of the day and watched TV until he was conscious enough to do homework, and even then he took more breaks than usual. The light hurt and he ended up working in the dark, and he couldn't eat even after Hazel had brought him his favorite ice cream.

The hunger pains had stopped sometime during the week despite never eating. He felt full, full enough to turn down whatever Hazel gave him. Food just wasn't his best friend anymore. It never fully had been.

Junior year was spiraling to a close as they got the tests results back, one after another. The first was fairly simple.

"Anemia?" Nico couldn't help but laugh over his pile of homework. "You're telling me they put me through hell to let me know I have anemia?"

"Nico, they seemed...like that wasn't the whole picture." Sally tried to explain. "And that's only the blood test. That one wasn't bad, right?"

Nico gripped onto his pencil but knew he couldn't argue. "Anemia just means an iron pill, right?"

Sally nodded. "Just an iron pill."

Nico turned to smirk at Percy. "See? It's just a stomach bug."

Percy just nodded but had caught his mother's worried expression. Something wasn't right, nor would it ever be again.

* * *

The Xray was fine, the Endoscopic ultrasound was fine. Everything was fine. The doctors were about to just call it quits with anemia when another part of the timeline came into view. Nico passed out in the shower, blood running from his mouth and nose. They brought him back to the hospital, did more complicated tests.

The stars showed more brightly in April during the nights after the thunderstorms, and the air became warmer despite Nico's failing body. Percy watched as he got skinnier, as he got weaker, as he refused to take even his favorite food. He was full, he said. He was always full.

Nico's eyes got darker, his face got paler. You could see most of his bones.

It took ten days to get the biopsy back, ten days before they were called into the hospital to sit down with Nico's doctors. Ten days for Percy to realize that his life was about to change.

Nico sat at the table between Sally and Percy, his arms crossed as he stared at the two doctors sitting there. A meeting room in the hospital, a place full of mourning. Why was he there for the flu?

"I have homework, you know." Nico finally spoke up. "You gonna tell us why we're here?"

The doctor nodded once before beginning to explain something that Nico didn't fully understand. He stared at the table as he tried to act like he was listening, but before he knew it he was getting shaken awake by a miserable looking Percy.

"What?" Nico rubbed his eyes. "What is it? How did you understand any of that?"

"They explained it better." Percy wiped a tear from his eye, making Nico's heart stop. "You have stomach cancer, Nico."

"No, I don't." Nico shook his head. "I just have a stomach bug."

Percy watched him as he lived the second worse day in his life. "Nico..."

"I don't have cancer." he turned to Sally. "Tell him. Tell him I don't have cancer. It's just a stomach bug, I promise."

Sally had a single tear stain on her face, her bottom lip wet from where the tear had ended. She looked Nico over before collapsing into her chair, covering her face to hide the sobs that soon racked her body. Percy was by her side in an instant, but all Nico could do was watch.

"It's just a stomach bug...Don't cry..."


	4. Chapter 4

"Twinkle twinkle, little star! How I wonder what you are!" the little girl sang at the top of her lungs, filling the large house with a sense of happiness. "Up above the world so high! Like a diamond in the sky! Twinkle twinkle, little star! How I wonder what you are!"

"Good job!" Annabeth clapped happily, having been using Nico's house for her new babysitting job. "Good job, Paige!"

The three-year-old smiled proudly before jumping into Annabeth's arms, wrapping herself around the teenager. "I'm hungry."

"I agree!" Percy stood up with his hand in the air, having been waiting for the right moment to break in. "I mean, uh...I think we should order pizza. Or go out. That'd get Nico out of his room."

"Let's go out to eat." Annabeth agreed. "We can meet up with the others. They were going to double date tonight."

"Ew." Paige wrinkled her nose. "Dating is gross."

Annabeth put Paige's hair into a ponytail before wiping the chocolate off of her face. "You'll appreciate it when you're older. You ready to go?"

"I'll go get Nico." Percy offered. He went upstairs as quietly as he could, knowing the boy had been basically hibernating since the beginning of summer break. Percy and Annabeth had graduated while Nico was about to start his senior year, leaving the younger boy feeling even further away from the others.

"Nico, are you awake?" Percy edged the door open to find Nico laying in bed, his pale eyes staring at the screen of his laptop. "Come on, get dressed. We're going out to dinner."

"Not hungry, Percy." the chemo had taken Nico's hair, leaving the young boy to wear a black beanie at all times. "Maybe another time."

"Paige said she wants you there." Percy lied. "Do it for the kid? It'll be fun, I promise. Better than staring at your laptop all day."

Nico looked mournfully at Percy. "What if I start throwing up?"

"I'll take you home," Percy promised. "But you better now do it on purpose just to get out of there."

Nico cracked a rare smile. "You know me too well."

Percy smiled in relief. "Get dressed and meet us downstairs. Unless you need help?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Nico sat up, slow but steady. "See? Don't worry. I'll meet you down there."

Percy was hesitant to leave but eventually did, standing just outside the door so he was there if Nico needed him. It took longer than expected but Nico soon walked out of the bedroom, wearing black skinny jeans and his usual aviator jacket. His beanie covered the chemo's damage and his sunken eyes stared at Percy, his lips chapped and pale. "You waited here for me? You can't even trust me to get dressed?"

"I never said that." Percy sighed. "Let's just get going. I was being careful, Nico."

"You shouldn't be careful." Nico rolled his eyes as he started down the hallway. "It's the flu, Percy. You act like it's cancer."

Percy stared after him for a minute before following, having given up on trying to detect if Nico was being sarcastic or not. Half the time he doubted if even Nico knew the answer to that. He said whatever was on his mind, whatever calmed him down enough to keep breathing. And Percy was fine with that.

"Good, there you two are." Annabeth stood by the door with Paige in her arms, the small girl giggling at the idea of going out. "I was getting worried."

"Percy was the one that decided to babysit me." Nico walked up to Paige and tickled the girl's stomach, causing another round of laughter to escape her chubby mouth. "Come on, let's get going. I'm in the middle of an anime."

Annabeth shook her head as she exited the house. "You and anime. What are we going to do with you, Nico?"

"Let me go home?" Nico offered. "That'd be a great choice."

"Haha," Percy kept a strong hold on Nico's arm. "Keep walking, brain boy. You're not getting away that easily."

Nico let Percy hold onto him, actually thankful for the support as they made their way into the city. He was weaker, weaker than he would ever admit, and his vision seemed to either be on steroids or half there. Percy was his guide, leading him through the streets so Nico didn't have to worry about collapsing or bumping into anything. It was good and he was thankful, but he'd never voice that out loud.

They got to a diner as the sun started to set. They found Hazel, Frank, Leo, Calypso, Jason, and Piper in the back at an already large table, having just ordered their food. Percy and Annabeth squeezed into the booth while Nico pulled up a chair for himself, Paige sitting across Piper and Annabeth's laps. They ordered, Nico kept his head on the table, it was an okay evening.

But that didn't mean Nico decided to eat. He watched them get their food, picked at his order of fries, tried his best to make anything look appetizing. Nothing ever did. It hadn't for months. As he sipped his water from the rim of the glass, blood escaped his mouth and spread into the clear liquid. Everything tasted like blood.


	5. Chapter 5

Twinkling lights of the hospital, high above him for his monthly chemo treatments. Summer flew by in twisted forms of weekend bonfires and trips around the city. Sleeping past noon, staying up until the early hours of the morning. Summer helped him feel more alive despite the fact that he was dying.

By senior year you could see all of his bones. He couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't do anything but focus on his work. College level classes, no breaks, no study halls. Work, work, work until you drop. Literally.

The second to last part of the timeline began at Christmas. Percy sat with his mother and two cousins in the living room, opened presents and talked about the good old days. Nothing could get Nico to talk, nothing could get him to move off of the couch. He looked as lifeless as the ones six feet under.

"Hey, Percy." Nico finally spoke up, his eyes holding no emotion. "Will you help me to my bed? This flu is really taking a lot out of me."

Percy shared a look with his mom before looking back to Nico. "Already? It's Christmas day, Nico."

"Fine, I'll go myself." Nico grabbed onto the arm of the couch before hauling himself to his feet, his hands shaking and his legs wobbling beneath his weight. "See? I can do it myself. I can...I can..."

"Nico?" Percy stood up, suddenly on alert from the blank expression that crossed Nico's face. "Nico, what is it?"

Time slowed down, didn't seem to even exist. Right in front of Percy, right in view, Nico fell to the floor with a heavy noise of bones clashing together. All he could do was watch, all he could do was pay attention as Nico started to seize, no color to his eyes and no soul to that face.

Percy had thought, at the time, that it was the worst day of his life. But it wasn't, not yet. The worst day would come right before summer would hit.

They rushed Nico to the hospital but Percy didn't even seem to notice. He stared at nothing, stumbled over his own feet, couldn't hear the voices around him. Fear, _utter terror,_ washed over his being and clouded his heart. He had never seen Nico like that, had never seen him so broken. And he never wanted to again.

But he didn't choose how life worked.

* * *

The lights of the hospital looked like stars and the rest of the room seemed as dark as the night. Nico cracked an eye open to look at the stars, to see if he could find some of the constellations. They were beautiful, always so beautiful. So much better than the stars he saw in his closed eyelids.

"Nico, they're going to put you in a scan." Percy's voice filled the night. "Try to stay still for them, okay? They think it spread to your brain. Just stay still, everything will be okay."

Nico kept his eyes on the stars but stayed still for Percy. He sounded worried, terrified even, but Nico couldn't figure out why. They were wrong about the cancer. It was just a stomach bug.

Just a stomach bug, just the flu. He didn't have cancer, he didn't have cancer.

He didn't have cancer.

* * *

Percy laid on the couch in Nico's hospital room, his laptop open and trying to connect to the shitty wifi. As he watched the bars go in and out, he ate the bag of popcorn he had stolen from one of Nico's get well bags. It was late into the night, maybe one in the morning, but they didn't enforce the nighttime rules. Who felt they needed to in Percy's case? He kept to himself, watched over his cousin.

"You're an idiot, Nico," Percy whispered to himself. "An idiot. You don't mess around with cancer."

"It's the flu..." Nico's weak voice narrowly escaped his chopped up body. "Just the flu, Perce."

"Nico!" Percy ran to his cousin's side, abandoning the bag of popcorn on the couch. "You woke up. That's good, that's really good."

"I woke up? You're celebrating over that?" Nico closed his eyes again. "I have a headache."

"You had surgery." Percy sat next to Nico's bed in the empty chair. "You were unconscious the whole time leading up to it. It...it spread to your brain, Nico. They had to get a tumor out. You're lucky they could."

Nico felt a tear form in his eye before he quickly turned away from those green eyes. "It's the flu, Percy. When can I go home?"

"I don't know..." Percy looked down. "I don't know anymore, Nico. I could bring all your work here, make sure you don't miss a thing."

Nico couldn't do anything but nod. Everything hurt, nothing felt right. Nothing would ever be the same.


	6. Chapter 6

Twinkle, twinkle, through the night. Through the tough times and the fights. Keep marching on, keep shinning on.

The day of graduation shown like a beacon in Nico's life, kept him going. It made him rest, made him eat, made him get out of his room once a day. But it could never save his life.

The worst day of Percy's life was May 29, the day of Nico's graduation. The boy was valedictorian, was to get his diploma and share a speech he was to write. Nico had finally done it. It was supposed to be a happy day, a day for celebrating.

But it ended with tears, with blood stained on Percy's button down. With an empty bedroom and a flatline.

"How do I look?" Nico ran into Percy's room, his white graduation gown trailing behind him. "Good? Bad? I need to know, man."

"You look good." Percy fixed Nico's beanie before looking him over. "That guy you like will see that you clean up good."

"Oh, shut up." Nico smiled. "Let's just get this over with. I'm nervous about the speech."

"You'll do fine. I know you will." Percy fixed his own tie. "Besides, you've been preparing for this for eight years. I think that's enough time."

"I've only been working on the speech for half that length." Nico rubbed his stomach before letting his hand drop to his side. "You coming? We should leave soon."

"Are you feeling okay?" Percy watched where Nico had rubbed. "Nothing hurts too bad?"

"I'm fine." Nico's eyes were darker than ever before and his face was the color of snow, or the lack of color, therefore. As he fixed his beanie the bones in his wrists stuck out, the sleeves of his gown fell back with no muscle or fat to hold them in place. Percy had never seen someone look so sick, had never seen someone so small. It was terrifying, and it got worse each day.

"Okay..." Percy stuffed his phone into his pocket. "Come on. I can't wait to record this."

Nico wrinkled his face in annoyance. "Do everything but the speech."

"Oh, Nico, that's not going to happen." Percy smiled as they walked out. "You finally got here. I'm not letting us forget your speech."

Nico grumbled to himself but didn't argue as they left the house. He knew just as well as Percy did that this wasn't a day to forget, that this day could and would never be forgotten. Some things would stick with you forever.

The lights of the stage, the stack of diplomas. The names being called of the top three in the class. Nico walked up to give his speech with his head held high, despite the fact that the stars had returned. Brighter, stronger, taking most of his vision and his stability. He kept walking, however, kept putting one foot in front of the other. That was all that mattered now.

His speech started off fine, started off with some cliches but touching moments. It was towards the end when he started to falter, when he started to sway in his standing position. "This has been a dream of mine since I was ten years old, since my mom died. I set a goal based on she wanted and I got here. Just set your goal, set..." Nico stumbled, blood dripping from his mouth. "Set..."

And then he was on the floor, unconscious, barely breathing. Too much blood.

* * *

Twinkle Twinkle, little star. Shine your light in from afar. In the dark, I so pray, to live to see another day.

Darkness, so much darkness. The stars weren't there anymore.

* * *

Percy looked down at his cousin and felt the tears slid down his face. The machines kept going off, doctors had to keep reviving him. They didn't think he'd last another hour.

"Hang in there, kid," Percy whispered. "Just hang in there. It'll be okay."

"Percy...?" Nico cracked an eye open, too weak to do more. "Percy..."

"I'm here." Percy grabbed his hand. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise you."

"Percy." Nico's eyes were as lifeless as his frail body. "It's...it's not a stomach bug, is it?"

Percy choked down a sob, tried to keep as calm as possible. "It's not a stomach bug, Nico."

"I...I have cancer..." a tear slipped from Nico's eye. "I'm dying..."

"Nico, you're not going to die." Percy's voice was stern. "You're not going to die, you hear me?"

"I see...I see...stars..." Nico's eyes lifted to watch the ceiling. "So many beautiful stars..."

In front of Percy's eyes, his soul left his body. His eyes became dead, his chest stopped moving. His monitor flatlined, the doctors came swarming in.

They couldn't do anything. They had already lost Nico in the shadows of the night.


End file.
